NFL's Chris Kluwe Says He Was Fired Over His Support For Gay Marriage

By
On Top Magazine Staff
Published:
January 03, 2014

Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris
Kluwe claims that his support for gay marriage cost him his job with
the Vikings.

“I was fired by [special-teams
coordinator] Mike Priefer, a bigot who didn't agree with the cause I
was working for, and two cowards, [then-head coach] Leslie Frazier
and [general manager] Rick Spielman, both of whom knew I was a good
punter and would remain a good punter for the foreseeable future, as
my numbers over my eight-year career had shown, but who lacked the
fortitude to disagree with Mike Priefer on a touchy subject matter,”
Kluwe
wrote Thursday.

Kluwe alleged that Priefer made several
anti-gay comments in the course of objecting to his advocacy on the
issue of marriage equality and quotes Priefer as saying during a team
meeting, “We should round up all the gays, send them to an island,
and then nuke it until it glows.”

Priefer disputed the charges in a
statement.

“I vehemently deny today's
allegations made by Chris Kluwe,” Priefer said. “I want to be
clear that I do not tolerate discrimination of any type and am
respectful of all individuals. I personally have gay family members
who I love and support just as I do any family member.”

In a statement, the Vikings denied that
Kluwe's views were behind the decision to cut him from the team.

“Any notion that Chris was released
from our football team due to his stance on marriage equality is
entirely inaccurate and inconsistent with team policy,” the Vikings
said. “Chris was released strictly based on his football
performance.”

“If there's one thing I hope to
achieve from sharing this story,” Kluwe wrote, “it's to make sure
that Mike Priefer never holds a coaching position again in the NFL,
and ideally never coaches at any level.”